Wonderland vs. China

As much I wanted to love it, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland leaves much to be desired. Despite Burton's unmistakable style, the special effects are underwhelming, the pacing sluggish (even though it picks up a bit on the second half) and Johnny Depps’ histrionic performance is one of his least entertaining in years. And I couldn't get over the fact that he looks just like Madonna as the Mad Hatter. There's nothing "amazing" about the 3D -- it was actually unremarkable and unnecessary (Avatar and Coraline notwithstanding, 3D has become a money-grabbing gimmick not in the service of the storytelling). This Alice could have some more wonder in it, but she did look good in shinning armour at the end.



On the other hand, Last Train Home takes you on a journey you’re not bound to forget anytime soon. Director Lixin Fan follows a couple of migrant workers in China who moved from their rural village to work in sweatshops in the big city, and their attempt to return to their village for the Chinese new year. This chaotic train ride is the largest human migration on Earth and the images that Fan captured over the course of two years are incredibly moving, shocking and beautiful. The movie puts a human price on that pair of Made-in-China jeans. Heartbreaking, thought-provoking and expertly shot.

From Paris with love

Dimitri from Paris was back in to Toronto for the Canadian Music fest this weekend and he rocked the disco at the Roosevelt Room. Decked in a tuxedo and oozing frenchness, Dimitri rolled out the good times with a Studio 54 vibe, extended versions of classics (from Ain't No Mountain to I Can't Go For That) and samples from his previous compilations.

And the man is charming in a goofy way and interacted with the crowd all night long. His set was accompanied by a live bongo player and French cabaret girls posing by the DJ booth. Were they part of the performance? Not sure, but it all worked. The crowd started out a little too “beautiful people”, but as the night went on only the ones who came to get down remained. Parfait!

Killer whales and surfing dolphins

This story about the killer whale in the Star irritated me. SeaWorld came forth to say that the whale who killed his trainer last week thought the trainer's ponytail was a "new toy" and dragged the woman to the bottom of the pool in an attempt to "play" with her. This whale has seen this woman everyday in and out of the water. He knew her, her hair and probably her scent too. I'm not saying that Tilikum committed premeditated murder, but I think he surely snapped under the stress of being a 6-ton horny bull used to having the oceans as his playground being kept in a little pool and forced to perform tricks on schedule for sardines.

Representing the whale as a child-like creature no more intelligent than a domestic dog, SeaWorld gives themselves license to say, "if it wasn't for that pesky ponytail..." sidestepping the big white whale in the room: the fact that sea mammals are highly intelligent creatures, with unique personalities, deep family ties, used to roam the oceans as they wish and should not be kept in captivity. Did we learn nothing from Free Willy The Cove? Keeping whales in captivity is cruel and wrong. If we want to learn more about them, we don't need to go to SeaWorld -- look no further than in nature.

Photographer Greg Huglin caught these guys riding waves off the coast of South Africa. The fact that dolphins and whales have the mental capacity to "have fun" should make their imprisonment akin to that of a man.

Rio or Havana?

This one is in Rio -- drug dealers ride bikes carrying machine guns in the night.

Meanwhile, Lula yuks it up with Fidel after the hunger-strike death of a political prisoner in Havana. And they both blame the United States for the problems in their countries. What is wrong with these pictures?

Eva Wonder

All right, it's on! After months of script-tweaking and much drag-show-watching, Eva Wonder is ready to step into the limelight. Are you ready for it?

Recently viewed

I killed my mother

Xavier Dolan, Montreal's belle dujour, deserves all his accolades for this impressive feature debut. Maybe I'm partial (as a gay only child with maternal conflicts) but the movie is brilliant in capturing how impossible it is to love her and not to love her.

Frankie Knuckles

The "Godfather of House" rocked Toronto last weekend, playing a dubby, disco-y set at the Cobra Lounge. More vocals nex time, please, Mr. Knuckles.

Queen signs

In a fit fo creative advertising, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland makes good use of Toronto's Queen subway station.

PSB in your living room

The Boys just did a pocket show in this woman's living room as part of this year's BRIT Awards. She won a contest and enjoyed "Suburbia", "All over the world", "It's a sin" and "West End girls" live from her couch with her friends. Lucky Twickenham woman!

There is love in you

Four Tet just released the best dance album of the year so far. It's trippy, trance-y, inventive and rocks very solidly.
The man shows off his expert use of the hit-hat, kick drums, full bass and killer hooks acquired during his years as a remixers and in his own experimental jazz projects. Then he wraps it all in a hypnotic, nuanced package, at times reminiscent of Orb, sometimes Lemon Jelly, but all original. The vocals are sparse and the first track "Angel Echoes" sounds like Annie Lennox. And check out the samba in "Plastic People."
It gets better with every listening.

Chicago

If you’re gonna be in Chicago this winter, here are a couple things I’ve done with friends recently and are totally worth checking out:

Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues
329 N. Dearborn Street
If you've never sung a Negro Spiritual, this is the place to go! The energy is great and you'll eat the best waffles you've ever had.

Noel Coward’s Private Lives at Navy Pier
Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater
This 1930 play is Coward at his witty best. This Chicago Shakespeare Company production is high quality and the actors do the play great justice.

Teavana
835 North Michigan Avenue
The Apple Store of teas! Stop by and get free samples of a bunch of teas or just smell the store for some free aroma-therapy.

2009 pictures

Incredible images from the Travel Photographer of the Year competition.

Akash from Bangladesh, 2009 winner.

Poras Chaudhary, India, winner of Homeland Portfolio category.

Craig Easton, UK, highly commended.

Johan Ensing, Netherlands, Best Single Image, People of the World category.

Kym Morris, Australia, A Traveller's Tale category.

Jonathan Banks, UK, runner up in the Festival, Fiesta & Celebration category

Sue Flood, UK, winner of Best Single Image, Natural Wonders

Louis Montrose, US, commended in Natural Wonders category.

Louis Montrose, US, winner in the Festival, Fiesta & Celebration category.

Kevin Ummel, US, runner up in Postcards from Anywhere.

Covers

I know, I know, we're all sick of end-of-the-year blog lists. But I've been looking at best-of and worst-of music lists for 2009 and I haven't seen my picks represented. Pitchfork elected the worse album covers of 2009, but among them there are some I thought were pretty good (even though Dark Meat's When the shelter came probably is the worst album cover of the decade.)

Without getting too much into the merit of the music, here are some of the album covers that made me excited this year. And the ones that didn't.

The best

Madonna - Celebration

Iconic as the songs in this collection.

Basement Jaxx - Scars

I like how the Jaxx always incorporate some animal elements in their cover art.

Pet Shop Boys - Yes

Pet Shop Boys + white background = great album! A clever cover, as Neil puts it.

Tori Amos - Midwinter Graces

Pitchfork crapped on it, but I actually like how she looks like a superhero.

CFCF - Continent

A simple cover, but very evocative.

Céu - Vagarosa

Beautiful light.

Secos & Molhados - Sempre

This is an old picture for a greatest hits collection, but what a great shot of Ney Matogrosso.

The worst

MSTRKRFT - Fist of God

The album is pretty good -- Toronto's own Daft Punk -- but the graphics look cheap and amateurish.

Franz Ferdinand - Tonight

Weak album, uninspired cover.

Joss Stone - Colour Me Free

What a mess. Who is managing this girl? I'd be trying to escape too.

David Guetta - One Love

That's what happens when you spend too much on guest appearances: no money left for album art. Dude looks like Adrien Brody on a bad hair day.

Flaming Lips - Embryonic

Is this what I think it is?

Air - Love 2

I used to like Air more when they were behind the scenes and we didn't see them so much. They look so tired in this unimaginative cover.

Adam Lambert - For Your Entertainment

Is it Rihanna gone white? Simon Lebon circa 1984? David Bowie in Labyrinth?

I don't know, but the graffiti font is classy.

Looking forward to 2010.

The Olympic Doobie

The Olympic torch is coming through Toronto tonight and people are actually outside City Hall in the cold waiting for it and drinking cold Cokes. I guess it's appropriate for the Winter Olympics. I passed by and grabbed me this nifty glow-in-the-dark bottle. (Thanks Ash!)

Madonna vs. Depp

Is it just me, or does Johnny Depps' Mad Hatter owe more than a little to Madonna?

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

I usually find Wes Anderson's movies a little hit and miss, his highbrow irony too contrived, his offbeat humor often not funny, but I think he finally found the perfect medium for his style: animation. The Fantastic Mr. Fox, based on the Roald Dahl book and voiced with great pizzazz by George Clooney, was a totally engrossing and satisfying movie. The action never lets down, the non-sequiturs work and the art is so detailed that only repeated viewings can do it justice. There's humor and heart and just enough quirkyness to make it enjoyable for adults and kids. And even as a fox, Meryl Streep steals the show (what the cuss, can this woman do no wrong?).

Querelle

I finally got around to watching Querelle, Rainer Werner Fassbinder's last movie before dying of a drug overdose. When it came out in 1982, it was received with mixed reviews (Fassbinder's style was usually misunderstood by critics and this was no exception) but there's a certain poetry and beauty to the movie that elevates it from being just a homoerotic movie about seamen.

Based on Jean Genet's 1953 novel, it's staged and lit beautifully by Fassbinder (who overdoes it a little with the phallic imagery) and it turns out to be more than a tale of murder and gayness -- it's a surreal and poetic commentary on masculinity, love and death. Plus, it features Jeanne Moreau singing "Each man kills the thing he loves," an excerpt from Oscar Wilde's The Ballad of Reading Gaol set to music. And damn, Brad Davis was hunky! And his performance isn't half bad.

PSB Channel

The Pet Shop Boys just sent out their Christmas cards, simple and festive at the same time as one would expect.

They're celebrating the end of a successful Yes year with the launch of their own Youtube channel featuring their videos and an interactive Advent Calendar where you can get previews of the songs on their Christmas EP.

(They're sure getting a lot out of those balloons. Check out the cover of their Brazil-only compilation Party.)

Unfortunately, the channel gives too much space for fan comments (lots of "great!", "fantastic!", "the best!" -- which we already know. Does everything today have to have a commentary section? Please leave a comment about it.) and doesn't feature all of their official video releases. Also missing are live performances and TV appearances. And homage videos like the one below, which make for interesting music videos on their own right.